U.S. patent number 4,486,195 [Application Number 06/586,002] was granted by the patent office on 1984-12-04 for laundering compositions.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Millmaster Onyx Group Inc.. Invention is credited to Lorraine Lillis, Morris Weinstein.
United States Patent |
4,486,195 |
Weinstein , et al. |
December 4, 1984 |
Laundering compositions
Abstract
Laundering compositions for cleaning and softening fabrics in
either cold or hot water comprising a mixture of effective amounts
of a fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine and a fatty acid
amidopropyl betaine.
Inventors: |
Weinstein; Morris (Paramus,
NJ), Lillis; Lorraine (Jersey City, NJ) |
Assignee: |
Millmaster Onyx Group Inc. (New
York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
24343880 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/586,002 |
Filed: |
March 5, 1984 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
8/137; 510/328;
510/333; 510/521; 510/522 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C11D
1/528 (20130101); C11D 1/94 (20130101); C11D
1/90 (20130101); C11D 1/29 (20130101); C11D
1/75 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
C11D
1/88 (20060101); C11D 1/90 (20060101); C11D
1/94 (20060101); C11D 1/38 (20060101); C11D
1/52 (20060101); C11D 1/29 (20060101); C11D
1/75 (20060101); C11D 1/02 (20060101); D06M
013/20 (); D06M 013/40 () |
Field of
Search: |
;252/8.8 ;8/137 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tungol; Maria Parrish
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jacobs; Arthur A.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A fabric treating composition comprising a mixture of an
effective amount of a fatty acid amidopropyl dimethylamine and an
effective amount of a fatty acid amidopropyl betaine.
2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amidopropyl dimethylamine
is selected from the group consisting of stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine and tallowyl amidopropyl dimethylamine.
3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amidopropyl betaine is
selected from the group consisting of lauroylamidopropyl betaine
and cocoylamidopropyl betaine.
4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amidopropyl dimethylamine
is selected from the group consisting of stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine and tallowyl amidopropyl dimethylamine and the
amidopropyl betaine is selected from the group consisting of
lauroylamido-propyl betaine and cocoylamidopropyl betaine.
5. The composition of claim 1 which also includes an effective
amount of an anionic surfactant.
6. The composition of claim 5 wherein the anionic surfactant has
the formula R"(OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2).sub.m OSO.sub.3 --M.sup.+, where
R" is n--C.sub.12 H.sub.25.sup.-, and m is an integer of from 0 to
about 5 and M.sup.+ is a cation of a Group I metal, an ammonium ion
or a substituted ammonium ion.
7. The composition of claim 6 wherein the anionic surfactant is
selected from the group consisting of lauryl sulfate and cocoalkyl
sulfate.
8. The composition of claim 1 which also includes an effective
amount of an anionic surfactant and an effective amount of an amine
oxide.
9. The composition of claim 8 wherein the amine oxide has the
formula: ##STR6## wherein R" is selected from the group consisting
of lauryl and a mixture of all the alkyl groups derived from
coconut oil.
10. The composition of claim 8 wherein the components of the
composition are present in a proportion by weight of amidopropyl
dimethylamine: amidopropyl betaine: anionic surfactant: amine oxide
of about 1:1:1:0.4.
11. A method of laundering fabric which comprises immersing the
fabric in a wash solution of water and a laundry composition, said
composition comprising a mixture of an effective amount of a fatty
acid amidopropyl dimethylamine and an effective amount of a fatty
acid amidopropyl betaine.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the amidopropyl dimethylamine is
selected from the group consisting of stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine and tallowyl amidopropyl dimethylamine.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the amidopropyl betaine is
selected from the group consisting of laurylamidopropyl betaine and
cocoylamidopropyl betaine.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the amidopropyl dimethylamine is
selected from the group consisting of stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine and tallowyl amidopropyl dimethylamine and the
amidopropyl betaine is selected from the group consisting of
lauroylamidopropyl betaine and cocoylamidopropyl betaine.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein said composition also includes
an effective amount of an anionic surfactant.
16. The method of claim 11 wherein said composition also includes
an anionic surfactant having the formula R"(OCH.sub.2
CH.sub.2).sub.m OSO.sub.3.sup.- M.sup.+, where R" is n--C.sub.12
H.sub.25.sup.-, and m is an integer of from 0 to about 5, and
M.sup.+ is a cation of a Group I metal, an ammonium ion or a
substituted ammonium ion.
17. The method of claim 11 wherein said composition also includes
an anionic surfactant selected from the group consisting of lauryl
tri(oxyethyl)sulfate and cocoalkyl tri(oxyethyl)sulfate.
18. The method of claim 11 wherein said composition also includes
an anionic surfactant and an effective amount of amine oxide.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the amine oxide has the formula:
##STR7## wherein R" is selected from the group consisting of lauryl
and a mixture of all the alkyl groups derived from coconut oil.
20. The method claim 18 wherein the components of the composition
are present in a proportion by weight of amidopropyl dimethylamine:
amidopropyl betaine: anionic surfactant: amine oxide of about
1:1:1:0.4.
21. The method of claim 18 wherein the quantity of the composition
in the wash solution is between about 1.5 to about 3.0% by weight
of the weight of the fabric being treated.
22. The method of claim 18 wherein the pH of the wash solution is
between about 5.8 to about 6.2.
23. The method of claim 18 wherein the weight of wash solution
relative to the weight of the fabric is between about 8:1 and about
16:1.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the composition is present in
the solution in a concentration of between about 0.15% and 0.3% by
weight.
Description
This invention relates to laundering compositions, and it more
particularly relates to laundering compositions which can clean and
soften fabrics in the same laundering operation, either in cold or
hot water.
It is well known that many anionic textile detergents, such as the
alkyl sulfates and alkylpolyoxethyl sulfates, are suitable for use
in either cold or hot water for hand laundering. It is also well
known that many water-soluble cationic quaternary ammonium
compounds, particularly the higher alkyl trimethylammonium salts
and the di-higher alkyl dimethylammonium salts, are good textile
softeners in either cold or hot water.
It would appear that a mixture of such anionic and cationic
surfactants would be a useful laundering combination which would
cleanse and soften textiles in a single operation in either cold or
hot water. However, such combination would not produce such results
because, as is well known, most anionic surfactants in aqueous
solution are incompatible with most water-soluble cationic
quaternary ammonium salts because they form water-insoluble
compounds, thereby causing both the cleansing and softening
properties to vanish or become grossly attenuated.
Therefore, most commercial laundry detergents focus on performing
one job or the other, i.e. either cleaning the fabrics or softening
them after they are cleaned.
In accordance with the present invention, it has now been
discovered that a mixture of a fatty amidopropyl dimethylamine and
a fatty acid amidopropyl betaine is a very good fabric softener and
appears to be at least as effective in this respect as the higher
alkyl trimethylammonium quaternary salts or the di-higher alkyl
dimethylammonium quaternary salts heretofore used. However, unlike
these quaternary ammonium salts, the mixture is compatible with
most of the anionic surfactants presently used for textile cleaning
and does not form insoluble precipitates with them. Therefore, the
mixture of amidoamine and amidobetaine, when combined with anionic
detergents, makes a very good detergent and fabric softener in
either cold water or hot water.
In addition, in accordance with the present invention, it has been
discovered that when an amine oxide is added to the combination of
amidopropylamine, amidopropyl betaine and anionic surfactant, the
efficacy of the ternary mixture, both as to cleansing and
softening, is enhanced.
Compositions embodying the present invention may be considered to
contain essentially the following components:
1. An amidopropyl dimethylamine having the molecular formula
##STR1## represents the acyl radical ##STR2## derived from stearic
acid. This compound, which is stearoylamidopropyl dimethylamine,
has an effectiveness that is not reduced when the stearoyl group in
the molecular formula is replaced by a mixture of all the acyl
groups derived from the fatty acids found in tallow, the resulting
product being tallowyl amidopropyl dimethylamine.
2. An amidopropyl betaine having the molecular formula ##STR3##
represents the acyl group derived from lauric acid. This compound,
which is lauroylamidopropyl betaine, has an effectiveness that is
not reduced when the lauroyl group ##STR4## in the molecular
formula is replaced by a mixture of all the acyl groups derived
from the fatty acids found in coconut oil, the resulting product
being cocoylamidopropyl betaine.
3. An alkyl polyoxyethyl sulfate anionic surfactant of molecular
formula R" (OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2)m OSO.sup.-.sub.3 M.sup.+, where R"
represents the alkyl group n--C.sub.12 H.sub.25,m represents an
integer between about 1 to 5 with an average of about 3, M.sup.+
represents the cation of Group I metal or the ammonium ion or a
substituted ammonium ion such as a triethanolammonium cation.
Since the alkyl group n--C.sub.12 H.sub.25 -- is derived from
lauric acid, the preferred anion is the lauryl tri(oxyethyl)sulfate
anion, the effectiveness of which is not reduced when the lauryl
group (R") in the molecular formula is replaced by a mixture of all
of the alkyl groups derived from the fatty acids found in coconut
oil; the resulting product being coco alkyl
tri(oxyethyl)sulfate.
It has been found that the lauryl sulfate anion and the coco alkyl
sulfate anions are compatible with mixtures of amidopropyl amines
and amidopropyl betaine as described above. Furthermore, these
blends containing the non-oxyethylated alkyl sulfates are just as
effective as those containing the oxyethylated alkyl sulfates.
Therefore, the formula above may also represent anions in which
m=o.
4. An alkyl amine oxide having the molecular formula: ##STR5##
wherein R" represents either the lauryl alkyl group or a mixture of
all of the alkyl groups derived from all of the fatty acids found
in coconut oil.
A mixture of the above four components appears to be most effective
as a softener when the components are present in a proportion by
weight of amidopropyl dimethylamine: amidopropyl betaine: anionic
surfactant: amine oxide=1:1:1:0.4 wherein each and every component
in the mixture may vary in relative amount by as much as 33%.
The combination of components is most effective when the aqueous
solution is acidic, i.e. at pH of about 6. However, the aqueous
solution must not be too acidic lest the high acidity inactivate
anionic surfactants which may be present.
Several aqueous mixtures of the above four components were made up
to contain 100 times the preferred laundering concentration so that
laundering tests could be carried out by diluting the concentrated
solutions 1:100. The concentrated solutions were acidified to a pH
of 5.8 to 6.2 with 85% phosphoric acid. When an aliquot was diluted
to 100 times its volume, the pH remained unchanged at 5.8 to 6.2.
These dilute solutions were used for testing the softening effects
of this invention on textiles.
Using an aqueous solution that contains the mixture of this
invention at a concentration of about 0.25%, it was found that the
fabric softening ability did not become discernible until the
quantity of the mixture in the wash water reached about 1.6% of the
weight of fabric being laundered. However, the optimum effect was
achieved when the mixture was present in the wash water to the
extent of about 2.4%, based on the weight of the cloth.
The ratio, by weight, of wash water to fabric that was tested
varied from about 8:1 to about 16:1.
When the ratio of wash water to fabric is 8:1 by weight, the water
should contain the mixture of this invention at a concentration of
about 0.3%.
When the ratio of water to fabric is 10:1 by weight, the water
should contain the mixture of this invention at a concentration of
about 0.25%.
When the ratio of water to fabric is 12:1 by weight, the water
should contain the mixture of this invention at a concentration of
about 0.2%.
When the ratio of water to fabric is 16:1 by weight, the
concentration of the mixture of this invention in the water should
be about 0.15%.
The following procedure was used for ascertaining the properties of
the products of the present invention:
Step 1. Concentrated aqueous solutions of the compositions were
prepared, of which the following Example is illustrative:
EXAMPLE
______________________________________ Parts Parts Pure Weight
Solids ______________________________________ stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine 7.0 7.0 (pure) cocoamidopropyl betaine (35% solution)
25.0 8.75 sodium lauryl tri (oxyethyl) sulfate 25.0 7.5 (30%
solution) lauryl dimethylamine oxide 10.0 3.0 (30% solution) water
33.0 100.0 26.25 ______________________________________
Phosphoric acid (85% concentration) was added dropwise to the above
solution until it reached a pH of 6.
Step 2. A large portion of the concentrated solution of the above
example was diluted 1:100 in water so that the diluted solution
contained 0.2625% active solids, of which stearoylamidopropyl
dimethylamine constituted 0.07%, cocoylamidopropyl betaine
constituted 0.0875%, sodium lauryl tri(oxyethyl)sulfate constituted
0.075%, and lauryl dimethylamine oxide constituted 0.03%. The pH of
the diluted solution was 6.
Step 3. Six square swatches of untreated cotton fabric, 6".times.6"
were weighed. (In one particular experiment they weighed a total of
18.2 grams). The six swatches were soaked for exactly 3 minutes in
10 times their weight of the dilute solution made in Step 2. (In
the particular experiment the solution weighed 182 grams). The six
swatches of fabric were then rinsed under cold running tap water
for exactly 3 minutes. Each swatch was squeezed (without wringing)
as dry as possible by hand, and spread out flat to air dry.
Step 4. As controls, separate 1:100 aqueous solutions of the
commercial products "Downy" and "Woolite" were prepared. "Downy"
was used as a positive control because it contains only fabric
softener and is marketed for its fabric softening properties alone.
"Woolite" was used as a negative control because it is not marketed
as a fabric softener, but for its detergent properties alone. In
addition to these two controls, a third neutral control, plain cold
water, was also used.
Six untreated cotton 6".times.6" square swatches were treated in a
manner identical with Step 3 for each one of the three
controls.
Step 5. Four piles of square swatches were prepared, each pile
containing the six swatches resulting from the respective
treatments described above (one with the product of the invention
and the other three with the three controls).
A panel of 10 women, each a homemaker and experienced in laundering
fabrics at home, was asked to evaluate the softness of each pile of
swatches. Each woman was permitted to select and feel as many
swatches as she wished from each pile, and to replace each swatch
in the pile from which she selected it. Each woman was asked to
rate each pile for its softness and feel on a scale from 1 to 5,
"1" representing what they thought was a very superior feeling of
softness, and "5" representing no soft feel at all.
The test was a double blind test in that the supervisor of the test
did not know what formulation (if any) was represented by any pile,
the women did not know which pile represented which product, and
the person who prepared the piles had no hand in the administration
of the test.
Step 6. Steps 3, 4 and 5 were repeated an additional two times, but
with the substitution of a respective one of the following fabrics
for the cotton in each test: polyester/cotton, 65%/35%; "Orlon"
(polyacrylamide fiber).
Step 7. All of the evaluations were compiled into the following
table.
TABLE
__________________________________________________________________________
COTTON/POLYESTER COTTON 35%/65% ORLON EVALUATER Wtr. "Woolite"
"Downy" Ex. 1 Wtr. "Woolite" "Downy" Ex. 1 Wtr. "Woolite" "Downy"
Ex.
__________________________________________________________________________
1 1 4 3 1 2 3 5 4 2 3 4 2 1 2 4 2 3 1 5 3 4 1 3 4 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 5 3
2 1 4 1 3 2 4 4 3 2 1 5 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 2 1 3 4 2 1 6 4
3 2 1 4 5 2 1 4 3 1 2 7 4 2 3 1 4 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 8 4 2 3 1 5 4 2 1 4
2 3 1 9 4 3 2 1 5 4 2 1 4 3 2 1 10 3 4 1 2 3 5 2 1 4 3 2 1 Sum 39
28 20 13 44 39 23 12 36 31 19 14 Average 3.9 2.8 2.0 1.3 4.4 3.9
2.3 1.2 3.6 3.1 1.9 1.4
__________________________________________________________________________
The results of the test for fabric softness illustrates that the
present invention imparts a feeling of softness to the fabrics
containing cotton, polyester/cotton, and acrylamide fibers, and
that its effect in this regard is superior to that of either
"Downy" or "Woolite."
Similar tests were conducted using a mixture that did not contain
amine oxide, i.e. a wash solution having a pH of 6 and containing
0.07% by weight stearoylamidopropyl dimethylamine, cocoamidopropyl
betaine, and 0.075% by weight sodium lauryl tri(oxyethyl)sulfate,
the wash solution containing a total of 2.33% by weight of this
mixture based on the weight of the fabric.
Even without the amine oxide in the mixture, it was equal to
"Downy" in fabric softening effectiveness, but, unlike "Downy", it
was compatible with anionics such as sodium lauryl
tri(oxyethyl)sulfate, and sodium lauryl sulfate.
* * * * *